EP. 28 | Screen Time and ADHD in Children: Balancing Technology and Health. - Brain Power with Dr. Eko

Episode Transcript
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Dr. Hokehe Eko (00:00):
Hello, it's Dr Hokehe Eko, your happy brain
pediatrician.
I wanted to talk about screentime and symptoms of ADHD.
Multiple studies have shown thelink between screen time and
increased and worsening symptomsof ADHD, like hyperactivity,
inability to focus on, inabilityto complete multiple directions

(00:24):
, and those are just a few.
Right, and I'm not saying thatscreens cause ADHD symptoms, but
they definitely worsen them,and so that seems to be with all
the studies.
That seems to be the message isthat increasing screen time
will definitely worsen yourchild's ADHD symptoms, and I see

(00:46):
that a lot, especially becausewhen children spend a lot of
time on the screen, right,they're getting instant
stimulation, they're gettinginstant rewards, and that's not
how real life works.
Right, you have to put ineffort, you have to focus on a
task for you to be able to seeresults.
Like with schoolwork, you haveto do the homework to get the

(01:07):
result of a good grade.
And one of the symptoms of ADHD, yes, is hyper-focus.
But children will hyper-focuson what they enjoy, and often
I've heard it over and over inmy office as children
hyper-focusing on video gamesand things that stimulate them
in that manner and more thandoing their homework or doing

(01:29):
chores around the house.
And so it's so critical that weaddress this now, early, while
our children are growing up, sothat they can grow up to be
healthy, balanced adults, rightand young adults and adults, and
so I wanted to discuss a coupleof steps and a couple of tips
for parents to use to addressthis huge ongoing problem that

(01:52):
we are facing.
So the first one would be toset clear boundaries in the home
around use of electronics.
The American Academy ofPediatrics advocates for no more
than two hours of screen timefor children six years and older
.
Now, that being said, childrennow use a lot of screens in
school, right, tablets, phonesduring the lessons.

(02:15):
Lots of things are placedonline now, and so there is that
increased screen time forschoolwork, screen time for
schoolwork and there were somestudies that indicated that they
didn't see a worsening ofsymptoms with schoolwork, but
with the fun time which is likemostly happens after school,
right?
So and I hear that a lot when Iask my patients what their

(02:36):
routine is like and it's like wecome home from school, we
attempt to do homework and thenthe rest of the evening, for at
least two or three hours, we'respending on computer games.
And in this sense, in this caseI mean in cases like this I
would advise parents as much asis possible, especially since
your child has already been onscreens while at school.
I would suggest to not not goon screens unless absolutely

(02:58):
needed for school during theweek, so that cuts down on their
exposure to screen time andtheir dependence on screen time
to provide stimulation and asense of happiness in their
lives.
So that's something that it'simportant to discuss as a family
and have clear boundariesaround how long your children

(03:19):
are on devices, around how longyour children are on devices.
The second thing I like to talkabout is to find alternative
activities.
So it's one thing to say don'tgo on your screen, so they'll
know what do they do.
If it's in the summertime, youwant to encourage outside play,
encourage running around,encourage gardening so that kids

(03:39):
can learn where food comes from.
Going to the library to getbooks, encouraging them to read
there's always activities in thelibrary, at the YMCA.
Just finding alternative thingsthat will still fill their mind
, grow them as individuals, helpthem with the social skills
that they need, but they're notstopped to scream right.

(04:01):
The social skills that theyneed, but they're not stopped to
screen right, and so that'scritical to have in place when
you're making changes to thescreen policy in your home.
And the third thing I would talkabout I wanted to talk about is
parental monitoring of thedevices.
It is critical more than everbefore because so many cases of
children being bullied virtuallyor digitally, and also like

(04:25):
being exposed to adults'information that they should not
be, and it's amazing.
It's like even watching commonapps like YouTube Kids.
I mean, I've seen ads on there.
I was like shocked, my kids hadno business seeing.
So it's so important that you,as parents, monitor closely what

(04:47):
your children are consumingwhere they are going.
There's apps that will help youtrack and shut down websites
that your children may beattempting to go on to.
And I have to say this in mypractice, I've seen a growing
concern with pornography withyoung, with teenagers, and

(05:08):
they're accessing this online.
So it's so important, parents,that you monitor closely what
your children are accessing,because this changes.
This can make changes in theway your child's brain functions
right If they're exposed tobullying, if they're exposed to
pornography, if they're exposedto things that they have no

(05:28):
business being exposed to aschildren.
So it's so important that weare vigilant and pay attention
to it.
The last thing I want to talkabout is modeling a healthy
habit of using devices, right?
We as parents.
I tell parents, please put yourphones down, look your kids in
the eye, bond with your kids,because your kids are desperate

(05:50):
and they're thirsty for all ofyou, and that cannot happen if
we are looking at phones ordevices ourselves.
So, parents, we have to modelfor ourselves what is a healthy,
healthy device boundary, right?
We come home from work, don'tbe on the phone if we're eating
dinner.
Let there be put away the phonepolicy, because that had to

(06:12):
implement that, because I foundmyself doing the same thing
right, looking at my phone whilemy kids were talking to me,
looking at my phone while I waseating dinner.
So my phone is nowhere near thedinner table now and it's
opened up a way for us to talktogether as a family and we
laugh and we talk about our dayand the phone is not ringing or

(06:32):
mommy's not answering textmessages.
So I'm using myself as anexample, because I haven't
arrived and I'm still on thisjourney of parenting along with
you.
I haven't even arrived and I'mstill on this journey of
parenting along with you, butjust to encourage you, it is
possible for us to make changesin the habits that we have,
because our kids are looking atour actions more than the words
that we speak, and so I justwanted to encourage your parents

(06:54):
to put down your phones, createhealthy areas, times that you
look at your phones, please,first thing in the morning.
There's research around that toindicate that it's sort of
derailed your whole day when youstart off staring at your phone
, and that's definitelysomething I'm working on as well
, and so if you have anyquestions, let us know.

(07:15):
I look forward to answering anyof your questions that you may
have.
If you're looking for apediatrician to care for your
child with ADHD and autism, lookno further.
I am she.
Please reach out to us atglowpediatrics.
com.
We'll be happy to serve you andyour family, and so please

(07:36):
share this video with familyfriends anyone that needs to
hear this and have an amazingday.

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EP. 28 | Screen Time and ADHD in Children: Balancing Technology and Health.

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